Pumpkins reunion rumor is smashed

January 27, 2006|By Greg Kot

A San Diego alternative rock station announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would reunite on the second day of the Coachella music festival in California in April, then had to take it all back in an on-air announcement Thursday.

"We got duped. They're not doing it," said 91-X (XTRA-FM) music director Marco Collins, who said he spoke to singer Billy Corgan's label, Reprise Records. "Reprise said that for whatever reason Billy backed out of it."

A Reprise spokesman said, "We never knew they were in to back out."

Corgan could not be reached for comment, but rumors about the band's reappearance have abounded since the singer announced last summer that he intended to "renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins." Stories of the band's rumored Coachella appearance have circulated on the Internet and have been published in NME, a British music magazine.

The lineup for the April 29-30 festival will be announced Monday, but Collins said it won't include the Pumpkins. "This info is everywhere, even in the guise of a [concert promoter] press release, and I feel like an idiot for believing it," he said.

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